Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemPolitics of historic conservation in Melbourne's CBD : 1955-1982(University of Melbourne, 1986)
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ItemThe Potential for Cross Laminated Timber to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Associated with Buildings( 2023-02)Cities around the world are facing the challenge of accommodating the growth of their population while mitigating climate change. In 2016, Australia, like 195 other nations, signed the Paris Agreement which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit mean global temperature rise below 2 degrees C. The construction and building industry is responsible for 39% of global GHG emissions, with the manufacture of steel and cement representing 9% of global emissions. In the last decade, an innovative wood-based construction material known as cross laminated timber (CLT) has been introduced as an alternative to reinforced concrete for the primary structure of buildings, and many researchers have shown its potential to reduce the GHG emissions associated with buildings. However, this research has identified that despite a focus on embodied GHG emissions in most publications, most are lacking complete scopes and implementation of innovative methods and data. Using a real case study building (CSB) primarily constructed with CLT, and a hypothetical reference building (RB) constructed with conventional materials, this study has quantified and compared the GHG emissions of both buildings over a service life of 50 years. Methods in this study included the implementation of a hybrid life cycle inventory approach that combines both process and input output data. The results showed that the overall GHG emissions of the CSB exceeded that of the RB by 5.2 % over a service life of 50 years. For both buildings, the embodied GHG emissions represented more than three quarters of the overall GHG emissions, and the greatest difference between buildings’ results occurred at the end of life stage, highlighting the potential sensitivity of the end of life of scenario. However, this study has also shown that CLT has the potential to reduce GHG emissions associated with buildings, by extending the service life of buildings and reusing wood-based-products into subsequent projects to divert them from landfill at the end of their life. There are significant challenges to design and build for GHG emissions performance. From the lack of adapted, accurate and efficient tools to inform designers about GHG emissions performance, to implementing a design for deconstruction approach and circular thinking, this study has shown the need for a paradigm shift in the design process. This study also emphasised the lack of consensus regarding some methods such as biogenic carbon accounting and the need for further research in this area. Furthermore, this shift towards designing and building for GHG emissions performance and research advancement are required to accelerate if the Construction and Building industry is to play a key role in limiting global temperature rise below 2 degrees C.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableActive frontage design: architecture, affordances and atmospheres( 2021)Active frontages are promoted in planning policy as ‘best practice’. While acknowledging the importance of public-private interfaces for street-life vitality, this research questions the effectiveness of ‘active everywhere’ frontage codes requiring extensive areas of transparent glazing, and the associated aversion to all forms of frontage ‘blankness’. The conceptual framework for this research is based on affordance theory which offers a pathway for understanding relationships between environment and occupants; looking beyond affordances as opportunities for action, this research also explores sensory affordances, or atmospheres. Through a case study in the Forrest Hill precinct in South Yarra, Melbourne, observed behaviours, and users’ sensory perceptions (captured in walk-along video/audio recordings), in relation to built-form outcomes are analysed. Alternative strategies to ‘active’ transparent frontages are investigated through analysis of global exemplars of non-standard frontage design. The case study research reveals that transparent shopfronts do not always afford the diversity of street-level use, users, and sensory perceptions recognised as impacting on street-life vitality and perceptions of urban quality; and while very long, non-transparent interfaces may be ‘deadening’, pockets of blankness can contribute to street-life, if part of a mix. The analysis of exemplars of alternative frontage designs identifies key themes for alternative strategies and tactics that may, conceivably, more successfully afford diversity of use, users and sensory experience. These key themes inform a series of design principles that are applied to a ‘re-imagining’ of street-level interfaces in the case study area. Using insights gained from the case study and exemplar research, this research seeks a more critical approach to urban codes impacting frontages i.e. a flexible, ‘open’ framework that affords innovative strategies, and a broader range of assessment tools to be employed. For urban research, the thesis builds on existing methods for studying frontages by providing a mixed-method, affordance-based analysis framework that could be applied to the investigation of street-level public-private interfaces in other urban areas. For theory, the thesis shows the value of affordance theory as a pathway for analysing existing urban conditions, and for re-imagining alternative scenarios. For urban design, planning, and architecture practice, it contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the impact of active frontage codes on the street-level public realm and identifies alternative urban design strategies and tactics for street-level interfaces.
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ItemOrder & continuity in architecture(University of Melbourne, 1993)
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ItemA planning process for sustainable development around protected areas(University of Melbourne, 1996)
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ItemA survey of litigated building disputes(University of Melbourne, 1996)
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ItemAnamorphic projections : an archictectural dissertation(University of Melbourne, 1995)
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ItemThe mosaic pattern of architecture : culture and the critical object(University of Melbourne, 1988)